Through the years a number of pacifier devices have been developed for use in providing a soothing member for use by a human infant. While the specific structure of baby pacifiers developed have taken many forms, all may generally be said to include an elongated soft resilient member generally terminating in a bulbous end which is sized and adapted to be received within the infants mouth. The soothing action arises from the nursing or sucking action of the infant upon this extended resilient member. For purposes of safety, such pacifiers also generally include a rather enlarged base portion at the remote end of the resilient member which is of sufficient size to be too large for the infant to draw into its mouth. In most structures, the side of the planar or base member supports a handle of some sort configured to be readily grasped by an infants hand.
In their normal use, such pacifiers are of course moistened by the infant and repeatedly removed from the infants mouth and returned for continued pacification. In addition, a sweet substance, such as jelly or honey, is often coated upon the resilient portion of the pacifier by mothers seeking to enhance the infants use of the pacifier.
In many instances, those caring for infants will need to remove the pacifier from the infants use for some prolonged period of time. During these periods of nonuse, it is often difficult to readily carry, transport or store the pacifier due to the moisture applied to the pacifier by the infants mouth. In addition, it is desirable to maintain or store the pacifier in a manner which avoids subjecting it to dirt, germs or other contaminants. In the typical environment in which such pacifiers are used, this maintenance of sanitation and cleanliness is often difficult to achieve.
These problems have caused practitioners in the art to develop various pacifiers which provide some improved cleanliness and transportability.
One is U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,630 issued Jan. 16, 1968 to Charles F. Hines discloses a collapsible shield for a baby pacifier which has a nipple which can be introduced with one end into the mouth of a baby, while the other end of the nipple defines a base for handling. The shield member is of conical configuration and the smaller end thereof can be attached to the base end of the nipple. When the nipple is introduced into the mouth of the baby, the shield collapses in the direction of its smaller end.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,709 issued Apr. 21, 1964 to Joseph D. Roundtree sets forth a baby pacifier slidably disposed in a sleeve which can be moved between positions of extension for use and retraction for storage by a turning knob.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,860,639 issued Nov. 18, 1958 to Frank M. Hoover is concerned with a pacifier and shield assembly, wherein the shield comprises a conical member with an annular curving flange. The flange defines a plurality of circumferentially spaced slits. The shield can be removably positioned in registry over the peripheral edge of the disc which is mounted over the nipple which, in turn, is mounted on the head portion of the unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,825,335 issued Mar. 4, 1958 to R. Natonek sets forth a rattled rubber soother having at least one hollow member for receiving pellets which can make the rattling noise.
While such prior art structures provide some improvement over standard pacifiers, there remains, however, the need for an improved and effectively shielded baby soother or pacifier.